More Guilty Pleas In Honduras Bribe Case

The DOJ said today that Jorge Granados, the former CEO of Miami-based Latin Node Inc. (LatiNode), pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to government officials in Honduras.

Four former senior executives of LatiNode have now pleaded guilty in the case.

Granados, 54, appeared in federal district court in Miami to plead to conspiracy to violate the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions.

He's scheduled to be sentenced on August 22. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or more.

The DOJ said today that three other LatiNode executives -- Manuel Salvoch, the chief financial officer, Juan Pablo Vasquez, the chief commercial officer, and Manuel Caceres, the vice president for business development -- pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA this year.

Salvoch and Vasquez pleaded in January. Caceres entered his plea yesterday (May 18). They all face prison sentences of up to five years. The DOJ didn't make a separate announcement about Caceres' plea.

In April 2009, LatiNode pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging it with a criminal violation of the FCPA. The company paid a $2 million fine. 

In 2006 and 2007, the DOJ said, the LatiNode executives paid more than $500,000 in bribes to officials at Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones (Hondutel), Honduras' the state-owned telecommunications authority. The defendants concealed the payments by laundering the money through LatiNode subsidiaries in Guatemala and to accounts in Honduras controlled by the Honduran government officials. Granados admitted that he authorized bribe payments.

View the DOJ's May 19, 2011 release here.

Download the indictment in U.S. v. Granados here.

Download the plea agreement in U.S. v. Salvoch here.

Download the plea agreement in U.S. v. Vasquez here.

Download the plea agreement in US v. Latinode here.